This page created on 12th September 1998, updated 11th June 2004

The Long Buses, RML 880-RML903, RML2261-RML2760

Part One: Into service

The first build (24)

The first thirty footers (actually 29ft 10.6 in) were introduced as early as summer 1961,
well before the main batch came on stream in 1965.
It was a surprise that London Transport had not tried them before.
It had used a large fleet of 30ft trolleybuses on routes into London,
but motor buses had stuck at 27ft 7in even after the regulations had been relaxed to allow the longer buses.
Union resistance did not help of course.
Eight extra seats was potentially 12.5% extra work for the conductor,
while more seats per bus would probably mean fewer buses per route,
and hence fewer conductors and drivers...
The Unions and management were already in a bitter row over replacing 56 seat
RTs with 64 seat RMs. Introducing 72 seat RMLs was not going to be easy,
and at that stage was certainly not diplomatic!
But they did reach agreement on trying them on a trolleybus replacement route,
where the capacities would be similar. The choice fell on the 609,
already worked by Highgate RMs on Sundays, which was to become the bus-operated 104.

LT used the standard modular construction of the RM to full advantage in these buses:
they were standard RMs with an extra 2ft 4in bay inserted in the middle
and a longer drive-shaft! This made them look even longer than they were,
as the wheelbase was longer than for most thirty-foot buses.

A broadside view of RML 2466 shows well the great length of these buses.
(Hyde Park Corner, June 1998).

The design did show the stretchability advantage of such modular design,
that appeared again later in the Plaxton Pointer and the Volvo Olympian
(to name just two). One visible change was the quick-release emergency exit window
on the offside.

The original intention was to classify them ER (for Extended Routemaster),
and the first four wore the numbers ER880 to ER883 when first delivered.
But this was changed to RML,
the original RML classification for Routemaster Leyland being abandoned.
(RML3 was renumbered to RM3). Their kerbside weight was 7-12-0, 7cwt more than the standard RM
and just 2cwt more than an RT.

They were delivered over a lengthy period between July 1961 and January 1962.
Three were used as trainers from October.
Fifteen were ready by November 61, when the 104 was converted.
The route actually needed nineteen RMLs,
so some ordinary RMs were used as well, until the deliveries caught up.

ER880 in 1998: London United operates RML 880 in a 1933 style livery,
with the original ER880 number, (North Weald)

Date

Route

Garage

Type displaced

Displaced by..

11/61

104: Moorgate - Barnet

FY

trolleybus (609)

RML

As not all of the batch of twenty-four were required for the 104
they were an obvious choice for ambassadorial visits.
RML 898 went to America in 1962 (twice!). RML 903, delivered in March 62,
went twice to Europe in 1963.
Both did not enter LT passenger service until May 1964!
The others, RML900-902, were stored at Aldenham and eventually released for service at Finchley.
The entire batch were kept together and stayed on the 104 at Finchley for many years,
even after the main batch appeared. Likewise they retained bodies within the batch at overhaul.
(Did the original agreement between LT and the Unions specifically relate to rthis batch of buses?
Is this why they were kept together? Does anyone know?)
As time progressed they began to look more like the standard batch
as they acquired later radiators, valences, heater grilles..

The main build (500)

It was another three years before production of long Routemasters took over from that of the standard length.
It had become clear that operation of the longer buses was both possible in London conditions and also desirable.
The rear-engined Fleetlines and Daimlers were being adopted wholesale by fleets around the country,
and LT, ever conservative, wanted to try out some in competition with RMs of similar 72 seat capacity.
At the same time, the Country Area needed replacements for its ageing fleet of RTs,
with many routes on the periphery of the London area
that could use large double-deckers.
Perhaps they already had in mind the possibility of swapping the Country RMLs for omo double-deckers once they became legal.

Anyway, production commenced, following on from the RCLs.
The new buses were very similar to the first batch,
but had the new radiator style with V-shaped badges,
half-blanked ventilator grilles and no offside route number window.
A major appearance change was that fifty of the first build (RML2306-2355),
plus another fifty later (RML2411-2460),
were in Country Area green with cream bands.
They had semi- rather than fully-automatic gearboxes,
reflecting the longer distance between stops in the Country Area.
They looked magnificent.
I saw them on the 410 route in October 1965,
where they ousted the RTs that had just previously put an end to the RLHs at Godstone.

RML2456 was retored to green livery by Stagecoach East London in 2003,
and here makes a return to the 409 during the East Grinstead Running Day in April 2004.

RML2334 was one of the Country Area RMLs, delivered to Godstone in November 1965.
Resold to London Transport by London Country,
RML2334 subsequently passed to Leaside Buses and Arriva,
who have it route-branded for the 38. (North Weald 98).

Much to my surprise, the 410 also sported RED RMLs.
In order to make a complete changeover from RT to RML at Godstone in one go,
for the busy 409, 410 and 411 group of long heavy routes,
London Transport most unusually allocated new red buses there.
These were due to take part in the comparative trials against XAs and XFs,
but were not needed until November.
So for two months the red RMLs graced the North Downs routes into Surrey from Bromley and Croydon.
Seven of the seventeen returned to the Central Area in November, to Tottenham,
whilst the other ten went to Stamford Hill in December.
The 409/10/11 group of routes required some out-stationed buses: one at East Grinstead for the 409, and one at Reigate,
so these garages too had a small taster of routemaster refinement.

Date

Route

Garage

Type displaced

Displaced by..

10/65

409: West Croydon - Forest Row

GD, EG

RT

RML

10/65

410: Reigate - Bromley North

GD, RG

RT

RML

10/65

411: Reigate - West Croydon

GD, RG

RT

RML

In November another nineteen green RMLs went to Northfleet (NF)
for the busy Thames-side trunk route between Erith and Gravesend,
via Dartford, the 480. This worked through an amazingly industrial area,
dominated by chalk pits and cement works.
(All sorts of fascinating industrial steam locomotives could be spotted from the top deck of the RMLs!)
In the way of Country routes it also yielded interworkings of the RMLs
onto a variety of other routes in the area.

RML 2327 was one of the Country Area RMLs sent to Northfleet in November 1965.
Subsequently bought back by London Transport from London Country,
it now operates for London Central on route 12. (Westminster, August 1998)

Date

Route

Garage

Type displaced

Displaced by..

11/65

480/A: Erith - Dartford - Gravesend - Denton

NF

RT

RML

11/65

487A: Rosherville- Swanscombe

NF

RT

RML

11/65

488/A: Swanscombe/Rosherville - Kings Farm Est.

NF

RT

RML

11/65

495A: Rosherville - Christianfields Estate

NF

RT

RML

11/65

496A: Rosherville - Waterdales

NF

RT

RML

Tottenham (AR) started its comparative trials earlier in November,
with 31 RMLs replacing RTWs on routes 76 and 34B,
while the Atlanteans started on the 24 from Chalk Farm.
Stamford Hill (SF) received its red RMLs for the trials on route 67
during December, which displaced RMs.
They in turn went to replace RTWs on the 45 at Walworth.
More Atlanteans for the trials went to Highgate in January 1966,
working on the 271. Again the displaced RMs went to replace RTWs,
this time at Chalk Farm for the 45. The XAs were joined in April by all the XFs,
still in green, from East Grinstead.

RML 2363 was delivered to Stamford Hill in December 1965.
33 years later it is still in front line service, now on the 11. (Whitehall, June 1998)

Date

Route

Garage

Type displaced

Displaced by..

11/65

76: Victoria Stn - Tottenham Garage

AR

RTW

RML

11/65

34B: Brimsdown - Walthamstow (MF rushes)

AR

RTW

RML

11/65

24: Pimlico - Hampstead Heath

CF

RTW

XA

12/65

67: Northumberland Park Stn - London Docks

SF

RM

RML

12/65

45: Hampstead Heath - South Kensington

WL

RTW

RM

1/66

271: Moorgate - Highgate Village

HT

RM

XA

4/66

271: Moorgate - Highgate Village

HT

RM

XF

1/66

45: Hampstead Heath - South Kensington

CF

RTW

RM

Finchley, no stranger to RMLs,
then received some new ones for the new 104A route,
towards the end of January.

Date

Route

Garage

Type displaced

Displaced by..

1/66

104A: Golders Green Stn - Barnet

FY

new route

RML

In the Central Area, conversions to RML continued,
mainly displacing RMs which in turn displaced RTWs or RTLs elsewhere.
The reasoning for the placing of the RMLs was very much that which had
prompted the original choice of RM locations in the first place: heavy loadings.
There was also the fact that it placed smaller strain on already disturbed labour relationships
if the new 72 seaters replaced 64 seaters rather than 56 seaters!

West Ham was the focus for the next displacement, in February and March.
The 5 group and the 249/A received RMLs, the RMs going to Riverside and Dalston
to push the RTWs off the 11,
giving rise to the highest concentration of published photos of RMs
of any London route!
RMLs also went to Poplar and Walthamstow for their share of the affected routes.

Date

Route

Garage

Type displaced

Displaced by..

2/66

5/5A: Bloomsbury - East Ham

WH, PR

RM

RML

2-3/66

249/A:

WH, WW

RM

RML

2-3/66

11: Liverpool Street - Shepherds Bush Green

R, H

RTW

RM

The Country Area also started to receive their next batch in February,
these heading for the north and west of the Country Area "polo".
High Wycombe (HE) received some for the 363 and associated routes, and
Garston (GR) had a lot for Watford Area services.
This also required two for Hemel Hempstead (HH), which shared the 347/A with Garston.
In May the Country Area received its last new double-deckers,
when RMLs went to Windsor (WR) and Harlow (HA) for heavily used routes.
London Transport transferred some of the many RTs released by this programme
into the Central Area (after a repaint),
where they displaced yet more Leylands.

Date

Route

Garage

Type displaced

Displaced by..

2/66

363: Totteridge - High Wycombe - Beaconsfield

HE

RT

RML

2/66

305: Uxbridge - West Wycombe

HE

RT

RML

2/66

326: Mill End Rd - High Wycombe - Micklefield Estate

HE

RT

RML

2/66

362: Ley Hill - High Wycombe

HE

RT

RML

2/66

455: Uxbridge - High Wycombe

HE

RT

RML

3/66

306/A: New Barnet / Borehamwood - Watford / Harpenden)

GR

RT

RML

3/66

311: Shenley - Watford - Leavesden

GR

RT

RML

3/66

311: Shenley - Watford - Leavesden

GR

RT

RML

3/66

347/A: Hemel Hempstead - Watford - Uxbridge

GR/HH

RT

RML

5/66

353: Windsor - Berkhamsted

WR

RT

RML

5/66

400: Britwell - Slough circular

WR

RT

RML

5/66

417: Langley Hosp. - Windsor - Old Windsor Hosp.

WR

RT

RML

5/66

445: Datchet - Windsor

WR

RT

RML

5/66

460: Slough - Staines

WR

RT

RML

5/66

484: Langley Village - Slough - Farnham Rd

WR

RT

RML

5/66

396: Epping Station - Harlow - Bishops Stortford

HA

RT

RML

5/66

397/A/B: Passmores - Bishops Stortford / Pinnacles

HA

RT

RML

5/66

804/A: Harlow / Harlow Mill - Latton Bush

HA

RT

RML

5/66

805/A/B: Potter Street - Little Parndon

HA

RT

RML

5/66

806 : Harlow Mill STn - Canons Gate

HA

RT

RML

The long south-London 37 route, from Peckham to Hounslow, was next for conversion,
the swap for RMs resulting in the removal the last
of the RTWs from passenger service (from Brixton's route 95).
The other half of the 37 allocation was converted the next month, in June,
when it was Stockwell's turn (SW). The displaced RMs this time ousted RTLs,
from Stockwell's own 88 and Victoria's 52.

RML 2466, new to Putney in May 1966 for route 37, still works at Putney garage for London General.
In June 1998 it was on route 22 in Kensington High Street.

Date

Route

Garage

Type displaced

Displaced by..

5-6/66

37: Peckham - Hounslow

AF, SW

RM

RML

5/66

95: Tooting Broadway - Cannon Street

BN

RTW

RM

6/66

88: Acton Green - Mitcham

SW

RTL

RM

6/66

52: Victoria Station - Mill Hill Broadway

GM

RTL

RM

In June and July 1966 the next phase in the comparative trials began, with the XAs swapping with the RMLs,
and the XFs going back to East Grinstead.

Date

Route

Garage

Type displaced

Displaced by..

6/66

76: Victoria Stn - Tottenham Garage

AR

RML

XA

6/66

34B: Brimsdown - Walthamstow (MF rushes)

AR

RML

XA

6/66

24: Pimlico - Hampstead Heath

CF

XA

RML

7/66

67: Northumberland Park Stn - London Docks

SF

RML

XA

7/66

271: Moorgate - Highgate Village

HT

XA, XF

RML

7/66

424: Reigate - East Grinstead

EG

RT

XF

Also in July, the 15 was converted to RML at Upton Park (U), with its RMs going to Shepherds Bush and two Romford garages: Hornchurch (RD) and North Street (NS).

Date

Route

Garage

Type displaced

Displaced by..

7/66

15: East Ham - Ladbroke Grove

U

RM

RML

7/66

100: Barking - Beckton

U

RM

RML

7/66

88: Acton Green - Mitcham

S

RTL

RM

7/66

165: Havering Park - Romford - Rainham

RD

RT

RM

7/66

174: Noak Hill - Romford - Dagenham

NS

RT

RM

After the summer break, Hackney (H) and Willesden (AC) received RMLs for the 6 group,
which had been one of the last to receive new RMs, just eighteen months before.
Some of the Hackney RMLs had illuminated offside advertising panels.

Putney (AF) had the last of this series of RMLs in November, its second allocation, this time for the 14.
The 2B was the lucky recipient of the RMs, at Norwood (N) and Stockwell (SW).

Putney Bridge still sees RMLs on the 14.
In February 1998 RML 2593 hurries over the Bridge for London General.

Date

Route

Garage

Type displaced

Displaced by..

9/66

6/6A: Kensal Rise - Oxford Circus - Hackney Wick

H

RM

RML

9/66

113: Edgware Stn - swiss Cottage / Oxford Circus

AE

RT

RM

10/66

6/6A: Kensal Rise - Oxford Circus - Hackney Wick

AC

RM

RML

10/66

83: Golders Green - Alperton / Hanwell

ON

RT

RM

11/66

14: Hornsey Rise - Putney / Kingston

AF

RM

RML

11/66

2B: Crystal Palace - Golders Green Stn

N, SW

RT, RTL

RM

There were no more RML deliveries until March 1967,
while the BEA Routemasters were being built.

However, the "rationalisation" cuts at the end of 1966 saw some changes of RML allocation.
Poplar lost those that it had for the 5 group. They went to Leyton (T) for the new 262 route.

Date

Route

Garage

Type displaced

Displaced by..

12/66

5: Bloomsbury - East Ham

PR

RML

service reduced

12/66

262: V&A Docks - Chingford Stn

T

new route

RML

Route 14 had to wait until May and June 1967 to receive Holloway's share of the RMLs for the route.
The redundant RMs from Holloway (J) went to Stockwell (SW) and Cricklewood (W) for route 2,
as did those from Putney (AF) when it received its third RML allocation, for the 74.
The 74B followed in July, with Riverside (R) exchanging RMs for new RMLs.
As a consequence Plumstead (AM) received RMs for route 53.

RML2615 still looks really good although 31 years
old when seen in Whitehall on route 11 for London General in June 1998.
When new it was allocated to Holloway (J) for route 14.

Date

Route

Garage

Type displaced

Displaced by..

5-6/67

14: Hornsey Rise - Putney / Kingston

J

RM

RML

6/67

74: Camden Town - Putney Heath

AF

RM

RML

6/67

2: North Finchley - Crystal Palace

W, SW

RTL

RM

7/67

74B: Camden Town - Hammersmith Broadway

R

RM

RML

7/67

53: Camden Town - Plumstead Common

AM

RT

RM

After the summer hiatus New Cross also received RMs for the 53 when the 207/207A were converted to RML operation.
Some of the RMs from Hanwell went to Hackney for route 22 as well.

Date

Route

Garage

Type displaced

Displaced by..

9-11/67

207/A: Uxbridge/Hayes - Shepherds Bush/Chelsea

UX, HL

RM

RML

9-11/67

53: Camden Town - Plumstead Common

NX

RT

RM

10/67

22: Putney Common - Homerton

H

RTL

RM

The last new RMLs went, most unusually, to Croydon.
Until now the southern fringes of the LT area had seen little Routemaster activity,
apart from the magnificent green machines from Godstone.
Croydon garage had had a few secondhand RMs, for a share in route 64,
but never any new RMs.
Now it received lovely new RMLs to directly displace RTs on the heavy-duty 130 group of routes,
connecting Croydon with the dormitory suburb of New Addington.
Croydon simultaneously lost the 11 RMs on the 64, these moving to Thornton Heath.

RML 2732 was one of the RMLs that served Croydon for a short while when new.
Now it operates for London General, usually on route 11. Here it is on holiday at North Weald rally, June 1998.

Date

Route

Garage

Type displaced

Displaced by..

11/67-3/68

130/A/B/C: New Addington - Croydon/Thornton Heath

TC

RT

RML

The highest numbered, RML2760, went to Upton Park (U), where it has remained.
It still sports original London Transport red livery, now with cream band and traditional London Transport fleetnames,
although in the ownership of Stagecoach East London.